July 26, 2010

Ms. Neera Chatterjee

Office of General Counsel

The University of Texas System

201 West Seventh Street

Austin, Texas 78701-2902

OR2010-11126

Dear Ms. Chatterjee:

You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act (the "Act"), chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 388192 (OGC# 130385).

The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (the "university") received a request for the list of applicants who applied for the university's Chief of Police position and the job requirements for this position. You state you have released the requested job description, which outlines the position's requirements. You claim the remaining information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This section encompasses the doctrines of common-law privacy and constitutional privacy. Common-law protects information if it (1) contains highly intimate or embarrassing facts, the publication of which would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person, and (2) is not of legitimate concern to the public. See Indus. Found. v. Tex. Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668, 685 (Tex. 1976). The types of information considered intimate and embarrassing by the Texas Supreme Court in Industrial Foundation included information relating to sexual assault, pregnancy, mental or physical abuse in the workplace, illegitimate children, psychiatric treatment of mental disorders, attempted suicide, and injuries to sexual organs. See id. at 683. This office has found that information pertaining to the qualifications of an applicant for public employment is generally of legitimate public interest. See Open Records Decision Nos. 470 at 4 (1987) (public has legitimate interest in having access to information concerning performances of governmental employees), 444 (1986) (employee information about qualifications, disciplinary action and background not protected by privacy), 423 at 2 (1984) (scope of public employee privacy is narrow). Further, this office has found that the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of members of the public are not excepted from required public disclosure under common-law privacy. See Open Records Decision No. 455 (1987) (the home addresses and telephone numbers of private citizens are generally not protected under the Act's privacy exceptions). The information you seek to withhold consists of the names of applicants seeking employment with the university. Upon review, we find you have failed to explain how any portion of the submitted information constitutes highly intimate or embarrassing information that is not of legitimate public interest. Therefore, you may not withhold any portion of the submitted information pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy.

Constitutional privacy consists of two interrelated types of privacy: (1) the right to make certain kinds of decisions independently and (2) an individual's interest in avoiding disclosure of personal matters. ORD 455 at 4. The first type protects an individual's autonomy within "zones of privacy," which include matters related to marriage, procreation, contraception, family relationships, and child rearing and education. Id. The second type of constitutional privacy requires a balancing between the individual's privacy interests and the public's need to know information of public concern. Id. The scope of information protected is narrower than under the common-law doctrine of privacy; the information must concern the "most intimate aspects of human affairs." Id. at 5 (citing Ramie v. City of Hedwig Village, Texas, 765 F.2d 490 (5th Cir. 1985)). In this instance, we find you have not demonstrated how any portion of the submitted information falls within the zones of privacy or implicates an individual's privacy interests for purposes of constitutional privacy. Accordingly, no part of the submitted information may be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with constitutional privacy. As you raise no further exceptions to disclosure of the submitted information, it must be released.

This letter ruling is limited to the particular information at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other information or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For more information concerning those rights and responsibilities, please visit our website at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/index_orl.php, or call the Office of the Attorney General's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. Questions concerning the allowable charges for providing public information under the Act must be directed to the Cost Rules Administrator of the Office of the Attorney General, toll free, at (888) 672-6787.

Sincerely,

Christina Alvarado

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

CA/dls

Ref: ID# 388192

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US
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